Of the 13 fishermen arrested from the fishing vessel that was seized by the Lankan navy, two men sustained serious injuries and were admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital while three others suffered minor injuries. Officials from the Indian consulate in Jaffna visited the injured fishermen in the hospital to provide assistance to them
Chennai: The Sri Lankan navy opening fire on a group of fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Karaikal and injuring five of them when they were fishing in the Palk Straits near Neduntheevu (Delft Island) early on Tuesday triggered protests in the State and also saw the Union Ministry of External Affairs summoning the acting high commissioner of Sri Lanka to inform that force was not acceptable under any circumstances.
Of the 13 fishermen arrested from the fishing vessel that was seized by the Lankan navy, two men sustained serious injuries and were admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital while three others suffered minor injuries. Officials from the Indian consulate in Jaffna visited the injured fishermen in the hospital to provide assistance to them.
State president of the BJP K Annamalai wrote to Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to bring back the arrested fishermen as the livelihood of their families fully depended on them. They had set out for fishing in the boat bearing the registration number IND-PY-PK-MM-1722, he said.
Earlier in the day, Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami put out a social media message accusing the DMK government of not taking any concrete steps to put an end to the recurring arrests and seizure of boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy beyond writing letters to the Union Government.
He wanted the 39 members of Parliament belonging to the DMK alliance to take up the matter in the House and the Union Government to put an end to the problem permanently.
Palaniswami was referring to the incident that took place on January 25 when 33 fishermen from Rameswaram were arrested and their fishing vessele seized. That also led to Chief Minister M K Stalin writing to Jaishankar to intervene and ensure the release of the fishermen.
Several other political leaders in the State, too, expressed consternation over the Sri Lankan navy opening fire on fishermen from Tamil Nadu since they saw in the incident an alarming development from the earlier arrests and seizure of boats, fishing gear and catch by the navy.
